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Barely one week into the 2026-27 NBA season, a handful of teams are dealing with season-altering injuries.
Thunder wing Jalen Williams (fibula/ankle) and guard Cason Wallace (shoulder) may already be out for the season. Raptors forward Kawhi Leonard is “expected to miss a period of weeks” because of swelling in his left knee. Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards may be out for two months because of a knee injury. A torn MCL is set to sideline Jazz big man Jaren Jackson Jr. for 6-8 weeks. Magic forward Paolo Banchero is out for multiple weeks with a high ankle sprain, while guard Jalen Suggs is out for at least two weeks because of a bone bruise in his right knee. And Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton is out for at least two weeks due to a left hamstring strain.
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Those are the major ones, although other teams throughout the league are dealing with various bumps and bruises as well. The Pacers, whom the Sixers faced on Wednesday, were without both Haliburton and starting center Ivica Zubac (ankle), which helped the Sixers escape with a 114-109 road win.
The Sixers are dealing with a handful of injuries as well, although all five of their starters are healthy for now. As long as that remains the case, they’re poised to take advantage of these other absences throughout the league.
The Sixers don’t play the Thunder, Jazz or Timberwolves until the calendar flips to 2027, so Edwards and Jackson might be back by then. (J-Dub and Wallace likely won’t be back for either of the two Sixers-Thunder games in January and February.) However, the Sixers will host the Raptors on Nov. 12 and head to Orlando six days later, which means they could avoid Leonard and Banchero in those games. They also host the Pacers on Nov. 15 and face them again on the first night of a back-to-back in late November, so they might dodge Haliburton in at least one of those games if not both.
Head-to-head results aside, those injuries could prove costly to their respective teams in terms of their win-loss record. And with the East looking especially cutthroat this year, an early-season slide from the Magic and/or Raptors might leave the Sixers…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/nba-injury-onslaught-could-help-170717968.html
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Publish date : 2026-10-29 17:07:00
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